Every NBA Team's New Year's Resolution
The dawn of a new year brings with it the hope of making positive changes.
That's just as true for NBA teams as it is for you and me.
Whereas we might be fancying better eating habits, more exercise or any other kind of self-improvements, teams have different goals in mind. Maybe it's fine-tuning a franchise approach, altering the roster or turning glaring weaknesses into actual strengths (or, at least, less-glaring weaknesses).
The point is every franchise has something it can change and hopefully improve in the new year. Let's pinpoint exactly what that something is for all 30 teams.
Atlanta Hawks: Choose a Direction
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The Hawks are seemingly having an identity crisis, as the rumor-mill rumblings appear to pull them in opposite directions.
They might make the biggest splash of trade season. They've been linked to Pascal Siakam and identified by league personnel as an "apparent suitor" of Lauri Markkanen, per Yahoo Sports' Jake Fischer. Or maybe they'll wind up on the other end of a blockbuster, as trade winds are swirling around Dejounte Murray. And remember, there was trade buzz around Trae Young as recently as April.
Atlanta can't keep pulling itself in so many directions. The Hawks must decide whether they can win with this core or not. If they are less than fully convinced they can compete at the highest levels, then it's time to start tearing things down and collecting assets to use when eventually building it back up.
Boston Celtics: Live in the Moment
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The Celtics look like the Association's best team, but you could argue that's been the case for a while now. Talent hasn't been this team's issue of late. Maximizing that talent in pressure-packed moments has been.
For whatever reason, once the clock starts winding down, Boston sometimes forgets how to play basketball. The offense stagnates. The ball stops moving. The Shamrocks tank their own margin for error and make themselves way too easy to defend. If they don't turn the ball over, they fire up the first halfway-decent shot instead of working to find a great one.
That's what has happened on previous ventures to basketball's biggest stage, at least. During last season's playoffs, the Celtics had a dismal minus-11.4 net rating in clutch situations (final five minutes with a margin of five points or less). The hope is the offseason additions of Jrue Holiday and Kristaps Porziņģis will make major moments easier to navigate, but it remains to be seen whether this bunch can finally handle the bright lgiths.
Brooklyn Nets: Be More Active
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On paper, the Nets look like a disruptive bunch with one long-limbed, athletic defender after the next. A defensive core featuring the likes of Mikal Bridges, Dorian Finney-Smith, Nic Claxton, Dennis Smith Jr. and (when healthy) Ben Simmons should be borderline impenetrable and ever-present in passing lanes.
In reality, though, this has been one of the most passive defenses around. They hardly ever force turnovers, and they don't even generate many deflections.
They should be among the leaders in chaos-creation, but they just haven't dialed up that part of their defense. They have a potential superpower at their disposal, but they never bother to use it.
Charlotte Hornets: Prepare for the Future
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The Hornets secured this year's No. 2 pick and appear headed for another early selection. That's probably a good thing, considering the club's most important players are 22 (LaMelo Ball) and 21 (Brandon Miller) years old.
Charlotte should have both eyes on the future, if for no other reason than the fact its present is hard to watch. More specifically, the franchise should be finding ways to convert its win-now veterans into draft assets.
Gordon Hayward, Terry Rozier and Miles Bridges (whose days in Charlotte may be numbered) aren't quite needle-movers, but they might be seen as such in this trade market. It looks like trade season will be heavy on buyers and light on sellers, especially if teams like the Bulls and Raptors don't take the demolition route.
Chicago Bulls: Foster Coby White's Growth
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There are more dramatic options available—finally blowing up the roster or helping Patrick Williams become Kawhi Leonard 2.0—but they just don't seem to be in the cards. The Bulls have made it a "focal point" to find a Zach LaVine trade, per NBC Sports Chicago's K.C. Johnson, but they may not make moves beyond that. And as far as Williams' development goes, they're still trying (and failing) to find whatever keeps his aggressiveness up at all times.
But Coby White's leap year is real. And it's been spectacular.
This is something Chicago can actually carry with it into the future. His ascension has moved him into centerpiece status for this franchise. The Bulls should be doing everything they can to cultivate his growth, because nothing means more to their future now.
Cleveland Cavaliers: Silence the Donovan Mitchell Speculation
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The Cavaliers have been on the clock with Donovan Mitchell from the second they acquired him during the 2022 offseason. The New York native didn't hide his desire to head back home, and he could make that happen by opting out of his contract in 2025.
The best recruiting pitch Cleveland could present was being so successful during his tenure that it would convince him Northeast Ohio offers him the best shot at winning big. However, the Cavs couldn't parlay last season's 51-win effort into more than a five-game cameo in the playoffs, and they've been even less competitive this time around.
While Cleveland isn't discussing Mitchell deals at the moment, that hasn't stopped others from weighing the possibility. The Cavaliers may never be able to kill the Mitchell-to-NY talks completely, but pairing a second-half surge with a strong postseason showing might reduce that noise to a few cricket chirps.
Dallas Mavericks: Stay Healthy Long Enough to See If This Works
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More than 10 months have passed since the Mavericks landed Kyrie Irving ahead of last season's trade deadline. Yet, it still feels too soon to say for certain just how well Uncle Drew works as Luka Dončić's sidekick.
That's because injuries have prevented this club from getting a lengthy look at the pairing. Irving hasn't played more than seven consecutive games with the Mavericks yet. Even when the stars have shared the floor, it's been a little too much your-turn, my-turn basketball, as they haven't had the time to establish a real rhythm.
That needs to change sooner than later, because if Irving isn't the right co-star for Dončić, then Dallas needs to start searching for alternatives. In April, ESPN's Tim MacMahon reported "fear exists" within the organization that Dončić "could consider requesting a trade as soon as the summer of 2024," and it's hard to imagine anything that has transpired since has lessened that anxiety.
Denver Nuggets: Empower the Youth
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It isn't often that a defending NBA champion needs to embrace a youth movement, but the Nuggets' youngsters were put on notice the second Bruce Brown bolted in free agency. Denver didn't have the funds to find a Brown replacement, so it took the fingers-crossed option of hoping to stumble on an internal solution.
Christian Braun, Peyton Watson and, to a lesser extent, rookie Julian Strawther have all been part of the plan to cover the Brown-sized hole in this rotation. But with Aaron Gordon now facing a lengthy absence after being bitten by a dog, the Nuggets will need to squeeze even more out of the less experienced players on the roster.
Could this be the opening that allows Zeke Nnaji to finally lock down a permanent place in the rotation? Will Watson find enough floor time and touches to discover his key to consistency? Can Strawther string together enough hot-shooting showings to warrant All-Rookie consideration? These are the questions for Denver to answer ahead of what could (should?) be another lengthy playoff run.
Detroit Pistons: Bring the Best out of Cade Cunningham
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The Pistons' historic-for-the-wrong-reasons season will go down as a waste, but it doesn't have to be an utter failure. It could still, in fact, prove quite fruitful should Detroit uncover some reliable evidence that Cade Cunningham can serve as a franchise focal point.
That has, of course, been the hope all along, as the Pistons made him the first overall pick of the 2021 draft. And there have been stretches in which it seems like everything's coming together for the 6'6", 220-pound swingman. He's just been unable to sustain those stretches while battling both a shaky shot and some alarming (at times) turnover numbers.
Clearly, the club needs to upgrade the cast of characters around him, but finding the right extras doesn't matter if the lead actor can't cut it. If the Pistons can establish Cunningham as a bona fide centerpiece, though, then it will at least have a foundation to start building around.
Golden State Warriors: Establish Better Rhyme and Reason with the Rotation
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The Warriors are overloaded with average-to-good players, and yes, that is an actual issue. Outside of Stephen Curry, the lone NBA great on the roster, they lack consistency—in both execution but also usage. Floor time and touches tend to fluctuate behind him, preventing players from not only establishing a rhythm, but also simply knowing what they must do to get into one.
"That's where it's confusing," Jonathan Kuminga told Marcus Thompson II of The Athletic. "Sometimes, I come out the game not knowing what I did. And that messes with my head. It's like, 'What they want me to do?' I can pass and I can do different s--t."
Golden State's old reliables like Draymond Green, Klay Thompson and Chris Paul are still old but less reliable than ever. Despite flashes from up-and-comers like Kuminga, Moses Moody, Brandin Podziemski and Trayce Jackson-Davis, none has been able to secure a substantial role. A consolidation deal might be best, but the Dubs need to identify which players they must keep out of such a swap first.
Houston Rockets: Get Jalen Green Going
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The Rockets have exceeded expectations for a lot of reasons—Most Improved Player candidate Alperen Şengün waves hello—but a leap year from Jalen Green isn't one of them.
In fact, the second overall pick of the 2021 draft might be backtracking. His efficiency is down both inside and outside the arc, and the gap between his assists and turnovers is small enough to give an observer feelings of claustrophobia.
He's too talented to be down bad like this. He'll have moments of high-flying, net-shredding brilliance that make him seem like a scoring-champion-in-training, but they're coming too few and far between. If he can't accelerate his ascension, he's at risk of getting left behind on the launching pad.
Indiana Pacers: Play Even Semi-Passable Defense
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There are plenty of words that come to mind with the Pacers' defense this season. Some aren't fit to print. Others are ones these players won't want to see again, like when coach Rick Carlisle went with "ugly" and "not acceptable" following a particularly dismal showing against the Clippers earlier this season.
While Indiana has proved it can score with anyone, it can't simply rely on winning nightly races to 120-plus points. NBA history holds that one-way teams almost always are handed a one-way ticket out of the championship race.
The Pacers don't need to be elite defensively to compete at a high level, but they can't be abysmal. If they hope to turn this season into anything more than a Play-In Tournament invitation, they need to embrace the game's less glamorous end.
Los Angeles Clippers: Stick with What Works
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The marathon style of an 82-game season offers near limitless temptation to tinker. That might be quadruply true for the Clippers, who have a quartet of future Hall of Famers in Kawhi Leonard, Paul George, James Harden and Russell Westbrook.
And yet, even though this partnership is relatively new, it seems as if skipper Tyronn Lue has already figured things out. Since wobbling out to a wonky-as-heck 0-5 start with Harden, L.A. has righted the ship and then some while flashing a two-way ability that appears to be at a championship-level.
Splitting apart Harden and Westbrook was huge, but the Clippers are also playing with more pace and purpose on both ends. As long as they keep their fit relatively close to the gas pedal—they'll never be an up-and-down team—they should remain in the championship race, with the if-healthy qualifier added, of course.
Los Angeles Lakers: Don't Accept Obvious Shortcomings
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The Lakers have enjoyed a mostly solid season so far, but they must never forget one thing: Good isn't nearly good enough for this group. Not with LeBron James' championship clock ticking louder than ever now that he's on the other side of his 39th birthday.
Yet, the ageless James improbably still appears good enough to steer a championship squad, especially with a co-pilot of Anthony Davis' caliber. These two need more help to win more than an in-season tournament title, though—more than the front office has provided.
This team remains short on perimeter threats, and it should've learned last season that D'Angelo Russell's shortcomings are difficult (if not impossible) to hide during a playoff run. The Lakers should be scouring the trade market for upgrades, because this isn't a full-fledged contender yet, but it could be if the team's top decision-makers pull the right levers during trade season.
Memphis Grizzlies: Don't Look Back
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Ja Morant's 25-game suspension put the Grizzlies way behind the proverbial 8-ball. The injury bug ravaged this frontcourt rotation. Marcus Smart has rarely resembled the difference-maker Memphis acquired him to be.
Guess how much all of that matters in the new year? Not. One. Bit.
With Morant hitting the ground sprinting at Olympic speeds, the Grizzlies should only be eyeing the road ahead and forgetting their tumultuous path to this point. Memphis still faces a steep climb ahead, but this club looked like a heavyweight contender in the not-so-distant past and it could absolutely get back to that level. This team just needs to do whatever it can to ignore the fact that sluggish start removed whatever safety net this squad had.
Miami Heat: We Have Enough
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These three words have been a go-to saying for coach Erik Spoelstra throughout his stay in South Beach. He's surely echoed them in the locker room a bunch this season, whether to ward off any feelings of disappointment that stemmed from losing the Damian Lillard sweepstakes or to maintain confidence amid the club's myriad injury issues.
Somehow, some way, though, the Heat almost always prove Spoelstra prescient. They've been a conference finalist in three of the past four seasons, and they twice escaped the East during this stretch.
You could argue this team is more talented than those were—yes, even though the Heat didn't reel in Lillard or any of the other high-end shot-creators they've been connected to in the past. Jimmy Butler and Bam Adebayo are perennial All-Stars, Tyler Herro routinely puts All-Star-level numbers in the box score, Duncan Robinson is back to his net-shredding best and Jaime Jaquez Jr. seems headed for All-Rookie first-team honors.
These Heat may, in fact, have enough to shatter all realistic expectations yet again.
Milwaukee Bucks: Play Through the Whistle...Er, the Defensive Rebound
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The Bucks made a calculated gamble this offseason that the offensive upgrade of adding Damian Lillard would outweigh the damage done to their defense by subtracting Jrue Holiday. They might be right, though they haven't done themselves any favors by allowing their opponents to extend offensive possessions.
This team was great on the defensive glass last season, and now...well, it isn't. That's one defensive drawback they can't attribute to their backcourt swap.
They should be better on the boards, and they clearly can be. That doesn't guarantee they will be, though. They better be, because they can't afford to give opponents extra looks at the basket.
Minnesota Timberwolves: Let Future Financial Challenges Stay in the Future
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Before the Timberwolves scaled their way to the top of the Western Conference standings, they were obvious candidates to make not insignificant changes to their roster. That stemmed partly from their ho-hum showing last season (42 wins and a first-round exit), plus the depleted nature of their draft pick collection. More than anything, though, the financial crunch hanging above the organization's head seemingly necessitated serious adjustments.
Karl-Anthony Towns' supermax starts next season. So, too, does Anthony Edwards' max extension, plus Jaden McDaniels' $131 million deal. Throw in Rudy Gobert and Naz Reid, and Minnesota will have more than $165 million of next season's payroll tied up in this quintet. The Wolves still need a long-term point guard (36-year-old Mike Conley is on an expiring contract), and new deals or replacements for Kyle Anderson (unrestricted), Shake Milton (non-guaranteed) and Troy Brown Jr. (non-guaranteed).
How can the Timberwolves make this work? Who knows, and frankly, who cares? That's a (tall) task for a different day. Let the front office fret about it if they want, but this roster has a championship to go chase. That needs to have the organization's full attention, because there aren't reasons to doubt this club's scorching start.
New Orleans Pelicans: Embrace the Three-Ball
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Travel back to this summer and offer the Pelicans a (mostly) clean bill of health for Zion Williamson and Brandon Ingram, plus a top-10 defense to boot. City officials may have started planning a championship parade, and knowing New Orleans, it would have been some kind of party.
Yet, the Pels have landed closer to rock-solid than spectacular, and their inability to space the floor could be to blame. Their three-point attack isn't the least efficient you'll find, but a lack of volume has proved just as damning.
They could scour the trade market for a shot-launching specialist, but who's to say that addition would be good enough to crack the postseason rotation? New Orleans needs its regulars—Brandon Ingram, more than anyone—to let if fly with far more frequency.
New York Knicks: Good Isn't Good Enough
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After adding OG Anunoby, Precious Achiuwa and Malachi Flynn, the Knicks might have enough to push for a top-six seed in the East.
That shouldn't be their goal. Not their end one, at least.
Unless Anunoby has a meteoric leap in him, New York still appears a star short of true title contention. Luckily, that deal didn't deplete this club's collection of assets. All of the first-round picks that initially made this club a blockbuster-trade candidate are still present. The Knicks can still put them to great use if the right star shakes loose over this calendar year.
They don't have quite as many assets to move now, though, so they have to be judicious in their trading. They almost certainly need a full-fledged star, so they must patiently wait for one to surface. The second that happens, though, they must be ready to pounce. They can be really good as currently constructed, but they should have the opportunity to put greatness on the table—and they need to take advantage of it.
Oklahoma City Thunder: Be Open to Change
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The Thunder have been careful not to rush anything with their carefully crafted rebuilding strategy. Even as this young nucleus showed signs of maturing last season, the team's top decision-makers weren't motivated to reach for the fast-forward button.
"I'm not trying to dismiss everyone's excitement, but we're not a .500 team," Thunder executive vice president and general manager Sam Presti told reporters ahead of training camp. "We have to finish our breakfast before we start acting like we're on the cusp of something."
Two-plus months of two-way domination might change everything, though. That's not to say the franchise must force a move during trade season, but the front office should at least be open to the idea now. Should an impact player who fits the timeline (cough, Lauri Markkanen) hit the trade block, the Thunder should be ready to pounce. It just might prove to be the missing piece of a championship puzzle that's come together quicker than anyone could've imagined.
Orlando Magic: Make More Shots
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A bit of free life advice here, folks: The best new year's resolutions aren't always the most profound. Sometimes the simplest solution really is the best one.
Orlando's defense is truly suffocating. Its offense is relentless getting to the rim. This is a legitimately good team. Add some more shot-making to the mix, though, and it just might become a great one.
The Magic are a bad shooting team by quantity and quality. The impact of their many trips to the charity stripe is muted by their lack of accuracy from there. They're dreadful from the mid-range, too. Their roster may not be loaded with lasers, but it shouldn't lay as many bricks as it has. Reverse that trend, and there may be no stopping Orlando's ascension.
Philadelphia 76ers: Make Sure the Next Major Move Is the Right One
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The Sixers have been as dominant as anyone so far, but what makes them truly terrifying is the fact they can still add impact players to this core. And since they already have the reigning MVP in Joel Embiid, plus a soaring star in Tyrese Maxey, they could be on the cusp of building basketball's next Big Three.
"You usually don't find yourself in a situation where you have a chance to compete for a championship with a few key players and you have an opportunity to add another max guy," Embiid said, per ESPN's Tim Bontemps and Bobby Marks. "That's my opinion. That's probably unheard of. I don't know how many times that's happened in the NBA."
Philadelphia needs to be judicious with its roster, though. The Sixers may only get one shot at getting this right. They have draft picks to dangle and gobs of cap space moving forward, but both could be depleted in a major move. They have to make sure it's the right one, then. Guessing wrong this season may not only derail this championship run, it could add unnecessary obstacles to future pursuits, too.
Phoenix Suns: Keep the Faith
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When the Suns added Bradley Beal this offseason to pair with Kevin Durant and Devin Booker, they assembled a top-heavy roster with more injury worries. Yet, the reality of their situation may not have set in until the season started—and the injury count took off. Between the absences of their stars (Beal more than anyone) and the minutes being filled by mostly minimum-money players, there's been a bunch of disappointing basketball and all of the vexation that comes along with it.
"Start with Kevin Durant. You talk to people in Phoenix and around that organization, you know, they can feel the frustration [from] Durant," ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski said on NBA Countdown. "Part of that, certainly, is the missed games for Brad Beal. This team was built around those three stars. The underwhelming supporting cast, that comes from those massive trades for Durant and Bradley Beal that really gutted the organization."
Phoenix can't afford to fracture now. Not when the healthy version of its trio remains nightmare fuel for opposing coaches and perhaps a secret weapon come playoff time. It's possible this simply won't work, but it's way too early to reach that conclusion. Give this group a legitimate chance this postseason, see what happens and then reassess the roster after that, if needed.
Portland Trail Blazers: Let the Prospects Dictate the Direction
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Once Damian Lillard's split from the Trail Blazers became a reality, that immediately vaulted Scoot Henderson and Shaedon Sharpe to the top of the organization's pecking order. Or, that's what should have happened, anyway.
Yet, the Blazers have been reluctant to hand over the keys to their youngest (and most important) players. Henderson is trying to find his way in a reserve role behind placeholding veteran Malcolm Brogdon. Sharpe's usage has been maddeningly inconsistent, as he sometimes simply watches the likes of Brogdon, Jerami Grant and Anfernee Simons go shot-hunting.
This can't be Portland's plan for its post-Lillard future, and it doesn't have to be the way it spends its Lillard-less present. Flip the vets for future assets and let the young players run wild. The direction this organization should head and the timeline of that project won't gain any clarity until the recent top-10 picks get prolonged sink-or-swim assessments.
Sacramento Kings: Find (Or Trade For) a Better Balance
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The Kings clearly aren't satisfied after snapping their historic playoff drought last season, and they shouldn't be. With De'Aaron Fox posting MVP-caliber numbers, Domantas Sabonis regularly stuffing stat sheets and Keegan Murray flashing a sky-high ceiling, this club is capable of more than a feisty first-round exit.
The front office is willing to do what it can to raise the ceiling. The Kings have been connected to some of the biggest names on the market, interestingly (and perhaps worryingly) including Zach LaVine, who'd be "very amenable" to joining the club, per The Athletic's Sam Amick.
Sacramento could use more creation, but what it really needs is defense. This club isn't escaping the first round with a bottom-third defense. The Kings have to improve on that end, and if it can't happen internally, then it should seek out the best stoppers their trade assets can deliver.
San Antonio Spurs: Make Life Easier on Victor Wembanyama
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When the Spurs won the Victor Wembanyama sweepstakes, they suddenly had a 7'4", fortune-changing alien on their hands. That gave them the freedom for all of the outside-the-box thinking they could do, and they leaned into the experimentation by tasking 6'8", power-forward-by-trade Jeremy Sochan with point guard duties.
Pivoting away from that plan was smart. So, too, was deploying Wembanyama as the lone big on the floor. Still, this squad could do a whole lot more to simplify things for the big fella, including making more triples and upgrading its point guard play.
There isn't a rush on any of this. Wembanyama still has another new year's celebration standing between him and his 21st birthday. That being said, those are among the obvious corrections that must be made to this roster at some point. The sooner they're fixed, the better the Spurs will be able to assess how much and how soon Wembanyama can help them return to their winning ways.
Toronto Raptors: Finish the To-Do List
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The Raptors did it. Finally. Facing a fork in the road, Toronto actually picked a direction this time and unloaded OG Anunoby before free agency potentially pried him loose anyway. Maybe the Raptors learned their lesson after retaining Kyle Lowry (in 2021) and Fred VanVleet (in 2023) through the end of their contracts only to watch them take their talents elsewhere. Perhaps they're just really big fans of RJ Barrett and Immanuel Quickley, the players they picked up in the Anunoby deal.
Either way, Toronto took control of its situation and potentially positioned its franchise for the better in the process. Now, the Raptors need to keep working on their checklist.
Remember, they still have a pair of important impending free agents in Pascal Siakam and Gary Trent Jr., meaning they either need to move them or be really certain they're comfortable with the costs of the contracts they'll soon command. If they're at all hesitant about paying one or both, then they should keep active on the trade market and find the return that fits them best.
Utah Jazz: Explore All Options
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The Jazz can be competitive with this club. They proved as much last season. They're also willing to take their lumps in the present if it considerably brightens their future. They showed that last season, too, by jettisoning useful players like Mike Conley and Jarred Vanderbilt to add the future first-round pick attached to Russell Westbrook's albatross contract.
Given all the picks they've gained in that deal plus the Rudy Gobert and Donovan Mitchell trades, they don't necessarily need to flip talent for draft considerations. However, if someone wants to overpay for Jordan Clarkson, Kelly Olynyk or even Lauri Markkanen (the latter would require a colossal return), this front office should be willing to hear them out.
More than that, though, these decision-makers should be open to just about anything. If there's a chance to add talent on the same timeline as Markkanen, that's probably worth considering, at the proverbial right price of course.
Washington Wizards: Try Something New
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Even after this summer's white-flag-waving trades of Bradley Beal and Kristaps Porziņģis, the Wizards probably weren't prepared to see this. It's tempting to chalk up a lot of this bad basketball to growing pains, until you realize how few minutes are actually going to young players.
Giving neon-green lights to Kyle Kuzma (who's 28), Jordan Poole (who was on the rumor mill within weeks of his Wizards debut) and Tyus Jones (who's on an expiring contract) accomplishes nothing beyond increasing Washington's draft-lottery odds. If the Wizards aren't at all worried about the win column, though, they should be finding more time and touches for young talent they have.
There isn't an abundance of it, obviously, which is why Washington should be ready and willing to send more veterans out the door. If Jones can bring back a first-round pick, that feels like a no-brainer. If Kuzma can fetch a first and more, that might be one, too. And if Poole can be jettisoned in something other than a salary dump, that could be the best of the bunch.
Zach Buckley covers the NBA for Bleacher Report. Follow him on X, @ZachBuckleyNBA.
